NBA’s New York Knicks Names Harold Ellis ’92 Director of Player Personnel

Date Released: August 18, 2017

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

Morehouse College’s biggest basketball star has joined the front office of one of the National Basketball Association’s most storied franchises.

Harold Ellis ’92, Morehouse’s leading career scorer who went on to play in the NBA, has been named Director of Player Personnel for the New York Knicks, the team announced this month.

Ellis was among a group of new front office employees hired recently by the Knicks. Michelle Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson, who worked as the head coach at Brown and Oregon State and as the vice president for the Milwaukee Bucks, was also among the new hires.

“My first goal was to build-up the highest level front office in the NBA,” said Knicks General Manager Scott Perry. “We are adding a host of highly-regarded and respected basketball people to work with the Knicks to fortify the franchise for years to come.”

This isn’t Ellis’ first front office NBA job. He spent the past five years as director of pro scouting for the Orlando Magic. Before that, he was with the Detroit Pistons organization where he was a scout for three years and an assistant coach for one. Ellis also served as a scout and minor league coordinator with the Atlanta Hawks.

Ellis, a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame, led Morehouse in scoring in each of his four seasons as a Maroon Tiger from 1988 to 1992. The team was 90-30 during his career and made the NCAA Division II Final Four in 1990. His number, 30, has been retired at Morehouse. Ellis played three years in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. Ellis also played in the Continental Basketball League, the United States Basketball League and in Greece.

He has also been a successful minor league head coach, winning back-to-back titles in the now-defunct World Basketball League in 2005 and 2006 where he as Coach of the Year each season. He also coached in the CBA and the International Basketball League.